With the proliferation of portable devices such as portable data terminals (PDTs), portable data assistants (PDAs) and cellular telephones it has become necessary to share information between portable devices or between a portable device and a host device. In a typical application, a portable device is docked to a docking station in communication with a host such as a PC. The PC is then actuated to transfer a computer file to the portable device, or the portable device is actuated to transmit a computer file to the host.
Formatted computer files or “formatted files” as referred to herein are available in a variety of different file formats. Execution files are available in the .EXE format. “Script files” are available in such formats as .BAT, .JS, and .VB. Text files are available in the format .TXT and image files are available in such formats as .PDF, .TIF, .JPG, .BMP and .PNG. Audio files are available in such formats as .MP3, .WAV and .AVI and .MID .XML is a computer file format that can support execution files, scripts files, text files, image files, audio files, or combinations of the above types of files. These types of files may be stored in a file system such as Intel's Persistent Storage Manager (IPSM) System. Certain types of files including dynamic link libraries (DLLs), executable programs, and critical data files can be stored as part of a devices operating system, also referred to as a kernel.
In portable devices, data is typically transferred from or to a portable device on a “file by file” basis. For example, an execution file (.EXE) may be downloaded from a host to a PDA. An image file (.JPG) may be uploaded from a cellular phone to a host. File by file copying methods utilize the operating systems of both the sending and receiving device.
During copying of a file in one of the above formats from a sending device to a receiving device, an operating system of the sending device must establish contact with the receiving operating system, specify the name and type of the file to be transferred, break the file down into manageable size packets, and transmit the packets across the previously established connection. The operating system of a receiving device accepts identifying information from the sending operating system, assesses available memory space location, and stores the data into such memory location that are otherwise not in use. Thus, while a “file by file” transfer of data allows for a highly selective copy of information from one device to another, the process is time consuming, especially if several files have to be transferred.
“Assembly line” methods for transferring data to portable devices are faster than a file-by-file transfer of data. In a typical back room method for programming a portable processor equipped device, a cable is hooked into a device motherboard and a memory content including a boot loader, an operating system (or “kernel”) and a file system is “flashed in” to the device. However, such back room methods of programming require additional expensive hardware (such as a compact flash Ethernet interface), do not offer flexibility of programming options, often require intimate familiarity with proprietary program code, and are not available to a customer who purchases a finished product.
A manager in an application in which several portable devices require a system upgrade (e.g., a kernel upgrade) must send the devices back to the manufacturer for upgrading or must undertake time consuming reprogramming processes.
There is a need for a method transfer of information from and between portable devices, which is high speed, flexible, and which can be utilized by the purchaser of a finished portable device to execute system upgrades including file system and kernel upgrades.
In all of the above reprogramming methods, a set up of a communication device is required. For example, if the reprogramming is to be accomplished via a hard wire connection, a cable such as a USB or Ethernet cable may be interposed between a host and a device, and appropriate communication interfaces utilized. If the reprogramming method is to be accomplished via a wireless connection, a transceiver needs to be configured to be in communication with a specific point of a computer network. The above methods rely on the integrity and proper set up of communication devices to be successful. Reprogramming may fail if there is a problem in a communication device at any of several points of a computer network.